The present teachings relate to surgery. More specifically, the present teachings relate to an apparatus and method for providing minimally invasive surgery and robotic surgery.
The present teachings relate to performing surgical procedures. More specifically, the present teachings relate to an apparatus and method for performing minimally invasive surgical procedures. In recent times, minimally invasive surgical procedures have gained popularity and are widely chosen over conventional surgery methods. An acclaimed benefit is apparent decrease in post-surgery recovery time and significantly less scarring.
Typically, minimally invasive surgical procedures are computer-assisted procedures involving one or more minute incisions at the surgical site followed by insertion of flexible housing tubes holding instruments used for performing the surgical procedure. The surgical instruments are remotely controlled by medical personnel or a surgeon via a user interface portal. As a result, there need not be physical contact between the instruments performing the surgery and the supervising surgeon or medical personnel during the surgery. A goal of automated surgical procedures is to maintain the flexibility and freedom associated with manual surgical procedures and further refine such procedures beyond what would be feasible for a human surgeon.
Contamination of the surgical site or the surgical instruments used can cause severe consequences with respect to the desired course of the surgical procedure and/or the patient's health. Hygiene can be maintained by medical personnel during a manual surgical procedure by use of surgical gloves, mask and regular sterilization of surgical instruments during the operation. This may, however, present a challenge in a minimally invasive surgical procedure. In order to perform the computerized surgical procedure, an instrument driving force is passed from a non-sterile side to a sterile side while keeping the two sides isolated.